BELFAST, MAINE - Each year, in late spring, an astonishing array of whimsical benches appears in and around the green spaces and public places of downtown Belfast. From the Post Office to the waterfront, this annual installation of “art to recline upon” dots the sidewalks in style and passersby can’t help but oblige the call of Please, Be Seated.  It is no surprise that visitors to the downtown will often stop into a nearby shop to ask “Is that bench for sale?”  According to Please, Be Seated project curator, Elaine Bielenberg, “Visitors are constantly asking if the seats are for sale because they have such appeal.  This year we can offer wider audience participation through an online auction, where each seat is showcased with a photo and a description.”  In addition, Bielenberg says, “The sale of part of our seat inventory helps fund next year’s artists and projects, and by making space for new seats next year, we can keep the project fresh and exciting.”

Please, Be Seated (PBS) is one of several programs of Belfast’s Main Street organization, Our Town Belfast.  Since March, 2010, Our Town Belfast has been on a mission to foster economic development through historic preservation in their downtown commercial district.  Streetscape projects, like PBS, provide a draw for tourism and a memorable experience downtown, adding to the vibrancy of Belfast’s bricks and mortar traditional appeal.  “Locals and visitors alike enjoy both the practical and fanciful aspects of taking a break on one of these one-of-a-kind seats created by some of the area’s best artists,” says Our Town Belfast executive director, Breanna Pinkham Bebb.  Bebb adds that “These seats are the site of many a photo-op and create a kind of annual scavenger hunt, where people try to find all of the thirty five seats located downtown.”

Should anyone like to find their own seat, and give it a new home in the backyard or room of their choosing, Bebb and Bielenberg recommend visiting the Please, Be Seated auction site at www.biddingowl.com/ourtownbelfast. Ten of Our Town Belfast’s wild and wonderful benches are now up for bid until September 13th. Benches ranging from an aluminum glider made of repurposed nautical supplies entitled “Front Row for Old Salts’ Tales” by Anita Brosius-Scott (pictured above) to a surprisingly-elegant tribute to Bruce Springsteen called “Rock on Spruce Spring Seat” by Bonnie Pierce and Michael Tracey make for a fine catalogue of available PBS seats.

For more information Please, Be Seated and its online auction, the public is invited to contact Our Town Belfast at 207/323-9100 or bre@ourtownbelfast.org.